THE LOLA T670
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
Peter Hiscocks competing in HSCC Classic F3 in 2008. (Picture courtesy of Peter Collins)
The T670 was the successor to the 1977 T570 which, despite the best efforts of Nigel Mansell, proved to be a disappointment, something that becoming somewhat of a habit in recent years. In fact it was the 1965 T60 that last won a F3 race and Lola's efforts since then had always seemed somewhat half-hearted.
The T670 was a very conventional design following Lola's typical format of twin wishbones at the front and links/radius rods at the rear. Full details can be found below in the Lola Press Release and a look at the exploded diagrams for the suspension shows that many of the parts used came from earlier designs such as the T620 Super Vee.
Although the T670 was a new design it leant heavily on the lessons learnt from the development of the T570, it retained the full-width nose cone and front radiator whilst the front and rear track were narrower. Mike Blanchet managed a 5th place in the works example in the UK and Arie Luyendyk managed some top 6 places in Europe, but he used a Chevrolet Vega engine which weren't considered competitive and the chassis was thought to be overweight.
The Swiss Hillclimb Championship comprised a series of hillclimbs and circuit races held outside of Switzerland following its ban on motorsport after the 1955 Le Mans disaster. In 1979 three Toyota-engined T670s were entered by Peter Sauber (later to form the F1 Sauber team), to be driven by experienced Beat Blatter and F3 novices Edy Kobelt and Max Welti. That trio totally dominated the Swiss series, finishing 1-2-4 in the points and winning ten of the thirteen rounds, although at one race Blatter crashed his Lola in practice and won in a borrowed March/Toyota 783 instead. With the Lola he won the first five circuit races and one hillclimb on his way to a comfortable title; Kobelt took two hillclimbs and Welti one, of the three missing events (all hillclimbs) two went to a Ralt and one to an Argo.
Year(s) of Construction: 1978
Total Built: 8
(Picture courtesy of Peter Collins)
T670 CHAMPIONSHIP WINS
YEAR |
CHAMPIONSHIP |
WINNER(S) |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Swiss F3 Championship | Beat Blatter | Lola T670-Toyota |
Peter Hiscocks now with a blue livery in 2011. (Picture courtesy of Jon Bunston)
T670 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS
2018
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17th June | Silverstone International Trophy | Anthony Hancock | HSCC Classic Formula 3 with URS Classic FF2000 - Race 1 - First Overall and Winner Class A |
Arie Luyendyk in the works supported HU1.
On the left Mike Blanchet tests the T670 at Silverstone in September 1977 with, what looks like some changes to the nose cone and top piece/sidepods. On the right is Tommy "Slim" Borgudd in his Toyota-powered T670.
